Zionism In America

Let’s start with defining Zionism; Zionism is a nationalist call to establish a Jewish state, which is defined by a nation of mostly individuals of Jewish descent. But, you may ask, isn’t that what Israel is? And you would be correct. Zionism was founded due to Jewish disbursement under Roman rule in 70 AD. It was given its name and officially recognized as a movement in 1897 by Theodor Herzl. The movement achieved its goal in 1948, with the creation of Israel.

However, Zionism goes a bit further. The same as Christian Zionism, Zionism itself dictates that Yiddish peoples acquire The Holy Land. The Holy Land is why the West Bank of Palestine continues to be in the news. This Restorationism calls for the borders between these two nations to be moved in order to accommodate the Judeo-Christian assertion that this land was promised to Hebrews by God in their Torah, and this is necessary to Christians for the second coming of Christ.

After Israel was made a nation, and after the original border agreement of 1967 between Palestine and Israel, many original groups remained. This isn’t surprising as religious conflict and strife have run rampant for millenia. What is surprising, however, is how the U.S. has allowed the conflict to dictate our politics. Fealty must be pledged by the most public of governing figures here in the United States to the ‘proper religious path’ or suffer a fall from grace, and thus a fall from public office. The Zionist movements that push such extremism, both here and abroad, have been the kindling to which far right extremism has blistered of late into roaring flame. Recall the 2010 elections.

From an objective standpoint, one can draw parallels between the bombings of abortion clinics in the U.S. to the suicide bombings in the Middle-East. Extreme religion here is no different from extremism there, but the American public refuses to see that due to indoctrination by religious zealots whose end goal is the conversion of all peoples in the world to their point of view, just as some other religions see their way as the only way. But what was supposed to make the U.S. different was our freedom. Our freedom to choose, or not choose with said liberty, to not have this choice be in the public sphere. Yet, a glimpse at 2010 again and we see that so many of our citizens will be voting on solely the religious affiliation of the person in question for public office. It is also important to note that Pew Polls report that 78 percent of the U.S. population considers itself Christian. This means that there is a 3/4 chance that the public offices will be filled with those of like mind to the rest of the nation. There are very few other religions represented in our government yet we are ‘land of the free and home of the brave’.

Can we be brave enough to drop religion from the political arena of our beloved America? Or will we continue to allow the power of a few in the ways of religion, or lobbyists, or banks, or money dictate what makes this country great in the first place, be damned all who think otherwise?